The quiet luxury of fine dining? How restaurants are skipping Wagyu and foie gras for ‘vegetable caviar’

Think “fine dining” and caviar, abalone, uni, Wagyu and foie gras probably come to mind. But in the same way that vanilla and peanut butter are stock-standard at every ice-cream shop, these symbols of rarefied cuisine have faced criticism in recent years for being overused to the point of ridicule – with truffle shavings and gold leaf adorning everything from siu mai to lamb shank as shorthand for “your bill is going to be astronomical”.

Yet just as fashion can be divided into statement pieces and “quiet luxury”, so can prodigiously priced ingredients.

The Japanese excel at imbuing quiet luxury into premium produce with the same subtle grace and dignity found in other aspects of their culture. One example is the Japanese fruit tomato, which is in season during autumn and winter. Famed for its robust sweetness and umami packed into a compact body, this fruit breed came about thanks to an errant typhoon that lashed Japan’s Shikoku island in 1970. Legend has it that in the storm’s aftermath, a dam broke near the city of Kochi and flooded a tomato farm with saltwater. Unable to absorb as much water as they normally would, the tomatoes became smaller, denser and much, much sweeter.

They were an immediate hit, with the Japanese preferring to eat them raw because of their natural sweetness: they contain double the sugar content of a regular tomato. Today, the fruit is grown in the open in the seaside Setouchi region, as well as in state-of-the-art greenhouses across the rest of the country. Farmers are meticulous in fine-tuning the growing process, experimenting with soil blends, pruning methods and water stress.

Fruit tomatoes can command prices three to six times higher than those for your average supermarket tomato, depending on the varietal, which includes the Amela, the Tokutani and the Megumi Taiyo.

Another prized Japanese ingredient to look out for, especially on the menu of kaiseki and sushi restaurants, is Koshihikari rice. Created in 1956 by crossbreeding two strains of Japonica rice, this grain is known for its exceptional flavour, texture and aroma. Cultivated primarily in Niigata prefecture, Koshihikari rice is celebrated for its sticky quality and wonderfully fluffy texture with just enough give, making it ideal for sushi and other Japanese dishes. A meticulous cultivation process involving careful attention to water quality and soil conditions ensures that each grain embodies the essence of its terroir. At French restaurant Louise, at PMQ in Central, Koshihikari rice is cooked “en cocotte”, or inside a ceramic ramekin to tease out its starchy goodness, and paired with the signature roasted yellow chicken to mouthwatering effect.